January-February Red Clover Clinic Newsletter
Published: Tue, 01/03/12
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January-February 2012
In This Issue
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| Coming to Terms With Your Diet |
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Would you like to have more energy and better overall health? At
the cusp of the new year, many of us come to terms with old habits that no
longer serve us and set new goals for our well-being. Consider making one of
those resolutions reducing or eliminating those sweet things that do some
not-so-sweet things to your body: sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and
artificial sweeteners.
When discussing diet with my clients, I often hear phrases like "I only have one per day" or, "I only have one per week." This concerns me,
because evidence suggests that consuming even small quantities of low-quality
foods and drinks, such as sweetened beverages, is enough to have a significant
deleterious impact on one's health.
I recently came across a study from the Harvard School of Public
Health that found that drinking one to two sweetened drinks (fruit drinks, iced tea,
energy and vitamin water drinks) per day increased the risk of developing type
2 diabetes by 26 percent.
Diet drinks not a panacea
If you're thinking, "I'm okay because I drink diet soda," think
again. There was a 25-year-long epidemiological study done at the University of
Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio that
showed the more diet sodas a person drinks, the
greater the chance that he or she will become overweight or obese: "On
average, for each diet soft drink our participants drank per day, they were 65
percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years,
and 41 percent more likely to become obese."
This discussion isn't only about weight gain; it's really about
overall health. People suffering from fatigue, chronic headaches, muscle aches,
skin issues, depression, and dizziness should seriously consider examining what
they are consuming and, more importantly, abandoning their daily doses of
sugar, high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners.
Avoid dropping below the baseline
There are people who seem to be able to tolerate potentially
harmful habits, and then there are those who can't seem to tolerate the tiniest
little digression. Some of this comes down to constitution, but here's another
way to think about it.
Imagine that you begin with a certain amount of energy to go about your life, which includes the ability to tolerate stressors of all kinds. As you live your life, stressors (high-pressure job, little sleep, poor diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, etc.) deduct from that baseline amount of energy. If you aren't doing things to replenish your energy, such as getting sufficient rest and exercise and eating nutritious foods, your gauge will likely drop below "empty." That's when negative symptoms start to pop up, especially as you
get older. When you are young, you may tolerate and recover faster from the
effects of more caffeine, more sugar, more alcohol, less sleep, more stress. As
you age, this threshold drops off, and you require more recovery time and
healthier habits.
Please consider starting the year off right by treating yourself
to healthier food choices. Following an adjustment period, you will begin to
feel better, have more energy, and be glad to turn away from those sweet
nothings. If you have questions, I'm happy to talk to you at your next
appointment. |
| Know Your Bodywork Techniques | |
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Red Clover Clinic uses a variety of techniques to treat pain conditions such as pain in the low and upper back, neck, shoulders, and joints; chronic headaches; TMJ dysfunction; and carpal tunnel syndrome.
I typically achieve the best results by applying a combination of acupuncture and one or more healing techniques. These "Mix and Match" sessions are effective for complex musculoskeletal conditions and complicated cases.
Below is a glossary of bodywork techniques that will be useful now, and in preparation for the next newsletter's focus on myofascial pain--pain that
occurs in the muscle and its surrounding connective tissue.
Neuromuscular therapy takes the interplay and pathology of nerve and muscle tissues into consideration. A variety of techniques are used, including gliding pressure through the tissues, highly specific applied pressure to trigger points*, and stretching, to address bio-mechanical issues: trigger points*, nerve entrapments and compression, postural issues, and hypertonic (chronically tightened) muscles.
Trigger point therapy addresses active trigger points* by applying sustained pressure, often combined
with some stretching of the tissue, until it releases. Self-treatment can be
done between sessions using thumb pressure, lying and pressing against tennis
balls, or using a Theracane.
*Trigger points are
specific, tender points that, when stimulated, elicit "referred" pain, i.e.
pain that occurs at a distance from the specific point. Interestingly, these
points have been mapped according to what muscle they occur in and are
consistent from person to person.]
Myofascial release focuses
primarily on the fascial (connective tissue) system. Sustained pressure is used
to engage and stretch the elastic tissues until the the contracted area softens
and releases.
Positional release
therapy is a
more passive and indirect method than the previously mentioned therapies. The
client's body is moved into a position that gives slack to tightened tissues,
inducing a release of fascial tension. This release decreases muscle tension
and restores joint mobility, thus decreasing pain and increasing functional
mobility and flexibility. In essence, the muscle resets itself, and is no
longer stuck in its contracted state.
Craniosacral therapy is a subtle, but deep-acting,
technique that uses the cranial bones, as well as the sacrum (triangular bone
at the base of the spine), as handles to unwind and release adhesions in the
meningeal (protective) membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. This
method restores proper movement of the cranial bones and can be helpful to
treat, among other things, back and neck pain, chronic headaches, TMJ syndrome,
and stress. | |
| Sweet Memories of Summer... | |
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Sweet memories of summer sunshine and collecting St. John's Wort:
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| Did you know? | |
Make an online appointment or call 612-308-3597.
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2233 N Hamline Ave Suite 301 Roseville, MN 55113 ph: 612.308.3597 e: anita@redcloverclinic.com
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